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Millimetre Wave (MMW) technologies use frequencies between 50 and 250 GHz. Today’s explosive growth in data usage is driving spectrum demands. The higher the throughput the wider the radio channel needed. Traditional PTP technologies use channel widths up to 56 MHz restricting raw Ethernet throughput to around 360 Mbps. Users requiring Gigabit speeds would need 156 MHz of spectrum. This amount of spectrum is simply not available in the traditional Licensed Microwave Bands. The currently released MMW bands at 60, 70, 80 and 90 GHz unlock 19 GHz of spectrum making them ideal for high throughput data communications. In comparison there is less than 0.5 GHz of spectrum available for PTP and other license exempt use between 2 and 6 GHz. The Licensed Microwave Bands are now so full in urban areas that acquiring even a 7 MHz channel are proving challenging.
Available Spectrum 60 GHz
Available Spectrum 70/80 GHz
Available Spectrum 90 GHz
A Light License is where the Licensee pays a small administrative fee and registers his/her radio link with the regional regulatory body. This information is used to inform other potential users of the spectrum that there is already a radio link or links in the area when they register their own link prior to deployment. This information is also used to resolve disputes should interference arise.
MMW communications tends to be short range (100m – 5 km) due to a combination of water and oxygen absorption in the atmosphere.
This however is not a disadvantage in today’s fibre rich world where the “last mile” is the most expensive and the place where MMW technologies are ideal for deployment. The short-range nature of these technologies can provide huge advantages in frequency re-use allowing the same frequency to be used every few kilometres. This is especially true of V-Band devices as the band is positioned on the peak of oxygen absorption, which limits link lengths to less then 1km. This makes them ideal for street level deployments where the same channel can be used over and over again in a small geographical area.
MMW links are not affected by fog, snow or sand storms making them an ideal replacement for troublesome Free Space Optics deployments.
Another huge advantage of MMW PTP devices is their antenna size. Due to the very short wavelength it is possible to build small antennas with very high gain. A small antenna size is vital in today’s planning conscious society where an aesthetic fit and small form factor are so important. These small high gain antennas have very narrow beam widths providing even better frequency re-use and interference immunity and make interception and eavesdropping very difficult. These narrow beams combined with proprietary over the air protocols and data compression make MMW PTP links very secure when compared to standards based implementations such as 802.11 where listening devices are easy to implement.
